▲ The installation view ⓒ The Page Gallery

Chong-gon Byun, who is a Korean contemporary artist holds a solo exhibition at The Page Gallery in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.

Byun, a senior artist in South Korea, displays a variety of artworks in his early days of creation, ranging from oil paintings to current sculpture work. While winning the grand prize at the first Dong-A Ilbo Art Exhibition in 1978, he suddenly left for the U.S. in 1981 to avoid government pressure.

During his immigration career in the United States, the artist wanted to spread the world of work as a full-time artist, but due to the difficult situation in reality, he collected useless items, such as picking up discarded items on the side of the road or purchasing items from used bookstores and flea markets. 

▲ Last Supper, Mixex media, 41x80x15cm, 2011 ⓒ Chong-gon Byun, The Page Gallery

He engraved free formative language that transcends art, science, religion, and ideas on the objects he obtained. He recreates the historical and political chaos of Korea and the United States with his unique humor and wit.

In the exhibition, Byun reveals 24 new works produced between 1997 and 2013, showing the world of the works he has built over the past 40 years. 

▲ Byun's work introduced in The New York Times ⓒ Chong-gon Byun, NYTThe artist explains his world of art, "Creation takes place in encounters and conflicts of heterogeneous things", and creates new works of concept with objects collected around the world.

The exhibition will be held at The Page Gallery in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, until Feb. 3 next year.

Sayart / Nao Yim,

yimnao@naver.com